Archives for Italy

Since the spark of the US mortgage crisis in 2008 and the major repercussions that left behind in global scale, Eurozone has entered into a vicious circle of austerity and downfall. The economic stagnation and the myopic insistence on distorting the foundations of a welfare state in the European South (i.e. much more affected by… » read more

Time always matter. In 1946 Great Britain’s PM Winston Churchill gave a speech at the University of Zurich pointing out the paramount need for the creation of the “United States of Europe”. The statement of Churchill came after an unprecedentedly devastating war that destroyed Europe in political, human, and economic level. Almost 60 years later,… » read more

These last days we have witnessed a growing “statement war” over the possible outcome of the negotiations in this Wednesday’s Eurogroup and the possibility of “Grexit”. This term that has been so easily used in unofficial statements and media coverage to stir anxiety in the markets and fear in the Greek and European public is… » read more

The pressure on the new Greek government is immense since the first day in power. A growing pressure that stems from every possibly side: from international media; from EU leaders; from opinion-makers; from the market; domestically in Greece, from different voices proclaiming themselves “democrats” that vie for the future of Greece, its citizens, its prosperity,… » read more

Dimitri B. Papadimitriou is a leading scholar and policy-maker, President of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College in New York. Himself as well as the Levy Institute have invested during the last couple of years in the explanation of sovereign debt crisis in Eurozone and Greece, endeavoring to enrich the debate with policy proposals… » read more

Mr Pierre Moscovici takes office in less than 10 days, after a tumultuous hearing a couple of weeks earlier. During this month, stock markets were shockingly destabilized with distrust over Eurozone to put again into the spotlight. Recent reports unveiled the weaknesses of the German economy, while Britain is heading into the sixth day of… » read more

The draft report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament over the regulations and powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions (EC No 2532/98), issued on September 17, includes a rather ambiguous, to be polite, provision, entitling the ECB to decide whether to publish or not decisions of… » read more

The tragedy of October 3rd when 350 refugees from Eritrea carried by a shipwreck were chocked near Lampedusa in Sicily literally shocked the European Union. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso upon his visit in the area declared his “shock” in front of the coffins with the dead children. The media did… » read more

Four months after the composition of Enrico Letta’s cabinet with the participation of the Democratic Party, the People of Freedom, Civic Choice, the Union of the Center and four more independent MPs, Italy’s ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi attempted to draw the support his party had pledged to the coalition government. A sound and impressive maneuver,… » read more

Italy is blocked. And it is blocked for a quite long period of time after the national elections did not achieve to provide a clear result over the clear win of a certain political party. It goes without doubt that the deadlock of Italy is foremost a political deadlock of the entire European Union. Relatively,… » read more

About: Dimitris Rapidis

Dimitris is thoroughly involved in the analysis of the Greek financial crisis in Eurozone, the political and geopolitical shifts globally, with emphasis in EU and MENA region. His analyses and interviews have been featured in national, European and regional broadcasting networks, media, and journals, such as Bloomberg, Euronews, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, El Pais, Publico, El Mundo, La Razon, Sputnik, Russia Today, Newsweek, Financier Worldwide, Die Welt, Handelsblatt, BBC, Nouvel Observateur, Anadolu Agency, Hurriyet, among others.

He has studied political science and international affairs at the Universities of Athens and Geneva. Dimitris is founding member of the Research Committee on Geopolitics (RC-41) of the International Political Science Association, and the Model of the European Union of the Galatasary University. He has been a guest speaker at numerous international academic and governmental conferences, summer schools and symposia in Europe.